


Assholes and Christmas Giraffes

by RyuuTsubasa



Series: Mall Magic [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Asshole!Baekhyun, Awkward Flirting, Christmas, Don't Judge Me, Flirting, Holidays, M/M, Mall AU, Mall Santa AU, Mall Santa Elf!Chanyeol, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5510657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuuTsubasa/pseuds/RyuuTsubasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little boy walked over, staring up at him in wide-eyed awe. “Are you a giraffe?” There was a loud guffaw of laughter from behind him, and Chanyeol spun to find the asshole doubled over in amusement as he cackled obnoxiously.<br/>--<br/>Chanyeol knows he’s too tall to properly pass as one of Santa’s elves at the mall, but he still wishes that this stupidly attractive asshole would leave him alone about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Assholes and Christmas Giraffes

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “i’m really tall but i work as one of santa’s elves in the mall and a kid asked me if i was a giraffe and you heard and now you’re cracking up” au  
> From: gabrielthetricksterarchangel.tumblr.com
> 
> So, I read the prompt and this just kinda happened...
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful beta, ShadowedMaiden!

Chanyeol was very tall. This is a fact that he knew quite well. He’d been this tall since his last year of high school, after all, so it wasn’t exactly a recent thing, and he really didn’t understand why everyone felt a need to constantly point it out. He was perfectly aware that he was working at the mall, playing one of Santa’s elves while being taller than Santa himself, and he really didn’t need everyone to remind him. Although he could understand that it was a hard fact to miss when he was quite literally too tall to stand under the archway that welcomed people to “Santa’s Station”.

Honestly, Chanyeol could understand kids staring at him, or asking him why he was so tall because they were just kids, but it was different when adults did it. It was embarrassing. Unlike most of his co-workers, Chanyeol didn’t actually have any problem with the dumb elf costume that they had to wear - though he supposed “a problem” was a bit of an understatement for the hatred a few of them possessed for the green costume. Kyungsoo, for example, had stated his desire to steal his at the end of the year so he could burn it, and Chanyeol was pretty sure he was actually going to do it too. For Chanyeol, though, even if the outfit was too small for him and the hat made his already prominent ears stick out even more, he thought the costume made him look adorable. Of course, it also helped that Chanyeol genuinely loved Christmas and everything about it, including dumb elf costumes. As he also loved making people happy, this job really was perfect because it combined both things, but he couldn’t deny that it was somewhat difficult to actually enjoy it when people kept making him feel like some kind of freak.

“Aren’t you kinda tall to be an elf?” a voice asked from behind him, and Chanyeol half turned to find the source, quickly narrowing it down to a light haired guy who was leaning against the “Santa’s Station” fence and grinning teasingly at him. He had a black snapback on backwards over his hair, a pair of large framed glasses perched on his nose, a red hoodie - which Chanyeol assumed to be his tribute to the season - with a leather jacket over the top, and black skinny jeans that hugged his thighs far too well for Chanyeol’s bisexual self not to notice. This was only made worse by the fact that his face was super attractive too, especially with the half smirk he had going on. He was a perfect example of the bad-boy type that was Chanyeol’s weakness, and with his vibe of effortless sexyness and everything, Chanyeol could feel his ears heating as he stared. Damn. It was a Monday, and Chanyeol was not in the mood to deal with these sort of feelings.

It took Chanyeol way too long to realize that he was pretty sure the boy had asked a question, though he couldn't seem to remember what it was. Ugh, this guy's attractiveness was totally messing with his brain. “What?” he asked back, forcing his customer smile onto his face, and the other boy laughed.

“I said, aren't you a little tall to be an elf? I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to actually fit _through_ that archway, after all.” 

The boy was outright smirking now, and Chanyeol felt his face get warmer because damn, it was hot, but also because it was embarrassing enough when random people commented on his height, they didn’t need to be super hot as well. In addition to being super hot, though, this guy was clearly an asshole. Chanyeol knew enough of them to be able to recognize one pretty quickly, and so he decided that his best move was to simply ignore him. Spinning back around, he grinned over at a little girl who seemed to be having some second thoughts about seeing Santa, offering her one of the candy canes that he kept on him for just such situations, and she calmed slightly as she smiled back at him.

The asshole stayed quiet after that, and Chanyeol had almost forgotten about him even being there - and was rather hoping that he was actually gone - when a little boy walked over, staring up at him in wide-eyed awe. “Are you a giraffe?”

There was a loud guffaw of laughter from behind him, and Chanyeol spun to find the asshole doubled over in amusement as he cackled obnoxiously. So the asshole hadn’t left. Chanyeol felt his ears heat and knew they were turning red.

Turning back to the little boy, Chanyeol shook his head, forcing a grin onto his face. “No, I’m an elf. I just kept growing to match the size of my Christmas spirit, which is so big that I also grew so big!” The asshole burst into even louder laughter at that, and Chanyeol wondered if his ears were actually on fire, or if they just felt that way.

The kid nodded, smiling back at him before running over to his parents again, who looked a bit embarrassed by their child’s behavior. Chanyeol very resolutely ignored the asshole who was still cackling behind him.

But apparently the asshole wasn’t going to ignore him. “A giraffe! Oh yes, that is exactly what you are! A Christmas giraffe!” Clearly not taking too well to being ignored, the boy walked around in front of Chanyeol, still chuckling. 

Looking at his face, Chanyeol was met with a huge, oddly square shaped grin that crinkled up the boy’s eyes, transforming his previously sexy face into one that Chanyeol couldn’t help finding completely adorable - though this new expression was no less attractive than the previous smirk. It was honestly starting to piss Chanyeol off. 

“Are you actually able to fit in any of the buildings up at the north pole, or do you have to live outside?” the asshole asked, before cracking up again.

Chanyeol smiled at a few shoppers who were giving them strange looks before turning to the asshole and narrowing his eyes. “Haha, are you done?” he asked, voice flat and sarcastic. 

The boy stopped laughing and studied Chanyeol’s face for a second. “Oh, wait. Is that your angry face? Oh, cool, I’d always wondered what an angry giraffe would look like.” Following his words, the shorter boy burst into laughter again, evidently highly amused by his own joke. God, he was obnoxious.

Trying to maintain his happy expression, he smiled at a family heading into the Santa line, but the boy’s annoying laughter was still far too loud for it to really work. Turning back around, Chanyeol let his smile fall. “Look, why are you even here? You look a little too old to see Santa, so why?”

The boy stopped laughing, but he was still grinning in a way that was way too adorable for such an obnoxious person. “Well, I’d come here with the intent of bothering my friend, but I think I might like bothering you even more, Mr. Giraffe.”

“I have a name, you know.” Chanyeol said, gesturing to his nametag. He didn’t necessarily want this asshole knowing his name, but it would be better than continuing to call him a giraffe for as long as he insisted on hanging around.

Unfortunately, the boy didn’t seem interested. “No, I like giraffe. It fits better.” Chanyeol sighed, and the asshole just grinned again. “What? Were you hoping that I’d be jumping at the chance to learn your name? I’d bet that you were hoping I’d ask for your number before I left too, huh? Yeah, I know, I have that effect on people.” 

The boy straightened his jacket, then adjusted his snapback as he spoke, giving off the most extreme air of superiority that Chanyeol had ever felt from anyone. And god, was it attractive. Clearly some part of Chanyeol was intent on making his life more difficult. He realized that he’d been staring at the boy, and quickly spun away as he felt his ears heating again, hoping that the asshole wouldn’t notice. 

“Oh look, your ears match your red collar now!” the boy exclaimed happily, once again snickering to himself as Chanyeol’s ears burned. “Does some other part of you turn green to match the rest of your outfit?” Chanyeol glanced over instinctively to find the boy trying to look curious, but the evidence of a mischievous grin was still visible in the crinkles around his eyes and the slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. 

Chanyeol really wished that he had some good comeback that would take the asshole down a peg or two, but the other boy‘s entire existence was doing awful things to his mental state, and he couldn't seem to focus on anything, least of all witty retorts. So, instead, he just turned back to the kids who were coming to see Santa, smiling down at them and trying to look like the happy elf he was supposed to be. It was far more difficult when Chanyeol could still feel the boy’s eyes on him.

A distraction from the asshole finally came in the form of a little girl who had started crying because her dad didn’t have time to wait in the line for Santa. It took a few smiles and the presentation of a candy cane, but by the time she left she was smiling through the last of her tears - a job well done. Glancing behind him, Chanyeol realized that the asshole was no longer hovering at his shoulder. Good riddance.

But then Chanyeol noticed a small child standing alone in the middle of the pathway, tears clearly visible on his cheeks as people shoved by him. He looked scared, and Chanyeol figured it was pretty obvious that he was lost. He tried to get the child’s attention, to get him to come over, but it wasn’t working. He wasn’t supposed to leave his spot, but he decided helping the kid find his family was worth making an exception. But before he could move someone else was shoving his way through the crowd to kneel in front of the little boy. It was the asshole. Chanyeol blinked a few times just to be sure, but there was no mistaking his leather jacket, and snapback covered dirty blond hair. Chanyeol blinked again. What was that about? Comforting a crying kid didn’t really seem like his MO.

The asshole talked to the kid for a few moments, then stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder as he led him over to the “Santa’s Station” fence where there were less people. It was too loud for Chanyeol to hear what was being said, but he could see the kind, comforting smile the asshole was giving the boy. As opposed to his amused grins and flirtatious smirks, this smile was oddly sweet, and Chanyeol was struggling to associate this image with his previous behavior. There was a warmth curling in Chanyeol’s stomach at the sight as well, but he ignored it. 

After a minute or so of talking kindly to the little boy, the asshole stood back up, reaching his hand down to take the child’s, and walked off with him in what seemed to be the direction of the security desk. Chanyeol blinked after him, trying to wrap his head around this new information. The way he was interacting with the child didn’t seem like the sort of thing that Sehun, or any of the other assholes that Chanyeol knew, would do - especially not if it involved going out of their way. Chanyeol found himself wondering if it was possible that this asshole wasn’t as much of an asshole as he had first thought.

Chanyeol was on break when he noticed the asshole come back. The other boy looked a bit disappointed by the fact that Chanyeol wasn’t there until he happened to catch sight of him over against the fence in a different part of “Santa’s Station”. Damn his stupid height. Grinning at him again in a way that sent Chanyeol’s stomach fluttering annoyingly, the boy sauntered over to him. To be honest, Chanyeol hadn’t even been sure that sauntering was something people actually did, or just something that was written in books, but the way this boy moved was the exact description of it.

“Hey, giraffe!” the boy called as soon as he was close enough to be heard over the crowds, and Chanyeol realized far too late that he could no longer pretend not to notice him.

“Oh, hey asshole,” Chanyeol muttered back, hoping that the boy wasn’t close enough to hear. But the asshole clearly had better hearing than Chanyeol had bet on, and he collapsed over with laughter again.

“The name’s Baekhyun actually. Byun Baekhyun.” The boy straightened, one hand adjusting his snapback again as his lips twisted into a half smirk. Chanyeol was pretty sure that he liked the way his name sounded a lot more than he probably should. God, he was a mess.

Attempting to school his features into a mask of indifference, Chanyeol shrugged in a way he hoped looked nonchalant, though he wasn’t sure how successful it was. “I don’t know, I kind of like asshole better.” 

The boy - Baekhyun’s - face crept into a full out smirk at the words. “Oh look, the giraffe has attitude. I like it.” Baekhyun’s eyebrows waggled, tongue poking out and running along his bottom lip in an action that Chanyeol tried very hard not to follow with his eyes. He failed.

Chanyeol had a frantic mental search for anything to change the topic to; anything to move his brain away from Baekhyun’s mouth - Baekhyun’s tongue. “Um, that was really nice earlier. Helping that lost boy, I mean,” he said, lamely. God, that was the best he could do?

Baekhyun’s eyes widened for a moment, and his cheeks seemed to flush the slightest bit. “Oh, you noticed that?” his voice sounded a little off, and he seemed to be trying a bit too hard to act aloof. What was this? Was he embarrassed? “You know, crying kids are such a pain. I was just getting him out of here.” He reached up to mess with his hat again, but this time it looked far less cool and more like a nervous habit. He _was_ embarrassed. Chanyeol felt himself start grinning; he’d found a way to flip the tables.

“I don’t know. It looked like you were just being a nice person to me. It was cute.” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol’s face and flushed darker, blinking up at him for a minute. He looked really annoyingly adorable.

“Whatever,” was all that he said, tossing his head a bit as he turned away. “Giraffe.” 

He tacked the nickname on a bit too late, and Chanyeol laughed. Baekhyun shot him a glare, and Chanyeol very much did not think about the fact that this expression was infuriatingly attractive too. Did this boy have _any_ facial expression that wouldn’t do awful things to Chanyeol’s mental state? Chanyeol grinned, pulling his hand up to form a dumb peace sign over his eye as he winked - an expression that Kyungsoo always said made him look look like a total dweeb but that Chanyeol kept doing anyway. Baekhyun seemed surprised by the action, blinking at him for a second before he adjusted his features to look highly unimpressed.

“Oh look, the giraffe thinks it’s cute.” His voice was full of sarcasm, but Chanyeol just nodded, dropping his hand but not his grin.

“Yup!” Glancing over at the clock, he realized that his break was just about over. Joonmyun had moved him up next to Santa for the last part of his shift, so he was supposed to be there a bit early. Looking back at Baekhyun, who still seemed to be staring at him -- an idea that made Chanyeol feel more fluttery and embarrassed than was logical -- Chanyeol smiled and waved. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. Santa’ll be back any minute now.”

“Can’t leave the big guy waiting I suppose.” Baekhyun said, giving a teasing grin and waving back. “See you around, giraffe.”

“You too, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol said, before he fully realized what words were coming out of his mouth -- specifically, the fact that he’d just used the other boy’s name. Baekhyun froze and blinked at him, looking shocked, which was something Chanyeol could definitely understand. He wasn’t even sure exactly how it’d happened, it’d just slipped out. And now, he couldn’t stop thinking about just how nice it had felt saying it, how comfortable it had felt. Man, did he have problems. Deciding that there was no use in trying to play it off, Chanyeol instead opted for the simple escape route, turning and speed-walking behind the fake trees that “Santa’s Station” was decorated with.

That had to be the most embarrassing conversation that he had ever had - including the time Kyungsoo had thought he’d been hitting on him. Chanyeol sighed, pulling his elf hat off to run his fingers through his hair before tugging it back on forcefully. Well, with any luck he would never have to see Byun Baekhyun ever again.

Apparently Chanyeol’s luck was only good for one week.

About two-thirds of the way through his shift the following Monday, he saw Baekhyun again. The other boy was hovering near the candy shop, close enough that he could see “Santa’s Station” but still far enough away that it didn’t seem like his being there had any connection to it. That is, if it wasn’t for the looks he kept shooting over at it. Chanyeol’s stomach was flip-flopping ridiculously over seeing the boy that he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind for the entire past week. No matter how much he had wished that he’d never have to see Baekhyun again, it hadn’t stopped him from looking for the shorter male every time he’d worked, wondering if he’d be met with his dumb grin, or obnoxiously sexy smirk during each shift. 

Now that he _was_ back, Chanyeol tried his best to ignore the other boy, he really did, but his eyes kept drifting over in Baekhyun’s direction whenever he wasn’t specifically busy with something else. It was only about a week before Christmas, and the crowds were a lot worse than they’d been the previous week, but Chanyeol could still easily pick out the other boy’s form. Today the glasses were gone, and he was wearing a red beanie with a gray-toned patterned coat over a black undershirt, and ripped, faded-blue skinny jeans that helped accent his ‘cool’ look. And, unfortunately for Chanyeol, this outfit was no less hot on him. In fact, he was pretty sure that Baekhyun looked even more ridiculously attractive today than he had last time -- which could be a good part of the reason he was having so much trouble keeping his eyes off the other man. To make the situation even more uncomfortable, Baekhyun kept glancing over at him too, so there were plenty of awkward across-the-room eye meetings. By the time “Santa’s Station” closed that evening, Chanyeol was pretty sure that his ears were a permanent shade of red.

Back in the staff room, Chanyeol changed out of his costume, replacing the elf hat with a red plaid aviator one. In fact, his entire outfit was still in shades of reds and greens - Christmas was his favorite season after all, and he liked to show it. Heading back out into the mall bustle, he practically ran into Baekhyun, who was standing to the side of the “staff only” doors. Both of them jumped back, and Chanyeol’s ears warmed all over again. Baekhyun gave him a quick once over, then raised an eyebrow.

“Hold on, are you even out of costume, or did they just go for a more modern look?” The heat in Chanyeol’s ears spread to his cheeks, and Baekhyun laughed. “Look, now your face matches too! I guess once a Christmas giraffe, always a Christmas giraffe.” 

Clearly the asshole persona was back, and Chanyeol really did not want to deal with it right now - especially with what the boy’s laugh was doing to him. It was even more adorable than he’d remembered, and what he’d remembered had been enough to turn his ears red and his stomach to butterflies just from thinking about it. Turning away from the boy, Chanyeol tried to keep walking. 

“Hey, hold up Giraffe!” Clearly determined not to let him escape, Baekhyun tried to follow, but Chanyeol’s legs were a lot longer, and Baekhyun wasn’t as skilled at moving through crowds, so he couldn’t quite keep up. Chanyeol had made it all the way across the mall and through the outside doors when Baekhyun called after him again. “Hey, stop!” He didn’t. “Come on! Chanyeol!” 

That worked. Chanyeol was pretty sure that he couldn’t have moved if he’d wanted to - though, to be honest, he wasn’t sure that he did. His name had sounded so… so right when Baekhyun had said it, and Chanyeol felt his face involuntary pulling up into a smile from the sound. 

Baekhyun moved around in front of Chanyeol and sighed. “There, that worked! God, I was thinking you weren’t going to stop at all, and I’d have had to follow you all the way to your car. Now that would have been a pain.” He was a little out of breath from trying to keep up, and his cheeks seemed a bit red, though that was probably just from exertion or the cold. They were outside after all.

“So you did know my name,” Chanyeol said, after taking a moment to gather his brain back together. 

Baekhyun shrugged, trying to seem uninterested, but there was more color rising in his cheeks, which gave him away. “Yeah, so. It doesn’t mean that you’re not still Giraffe.” He reached up, adjusting his beanie - yeah, that was a nervous habit for sure. Chanyeol really wanted to ask Baekhyun to say his name again-- but no, that would be weird. Wow, he really needed help. Or to just date the other boy- no. Help, definitely help. Baekhyun cleared his throat, and Chanyeol realised that they’d been standing there, not speaking, for what was probably too long. “Um, anyway…” Baekhyun started, then trailed off, face darkening more as he looked away.

“Yes?” Chanyeol prompted, and Baekhyun looked back at him quickly. It seemed like his eyes were having trouble focusing on Chanyeol's. 

The shorter man bit his bottom lip nervously - something that should not have been as hot as Chanyeol thought it was - and Chanyeol found himself staring at the other boy’s mouth and reflectively licking his own lips. They’d never been this close before, inches apart, and it was doing terrible things to his composure; he really wanted to either run away, or kiss the other boy, and neither of them were particularly rational ideas. Dragging his eyes back up, he caught Baekhyun moving his own eyes up, making eye contact for the briefest moment before Baekhyun flicked his away, swallowing as he did.

“Okay look,” Chanyeol said finally, deciding that Baekhyun didn’t seem likely to speak, “clearly this situation is uncomfortable for both of us, so can you just say whatever it is that you want to say so we can just get this over with so that I can-”

“Are you busy?” Baekhyun practically yelled, cutting off Chanyeol’s rant. 

Chanyeol blinked at him. “Um, what?”

“Right now, are you busy, or do you want to, um, get a coffee, or something.”

“I…” Chanyeol couldn’t even think of what to say. That sounded like the way you ask someone on a date. But this was Byun Baekhyun, the cool asshole, talking to Park Chanyeol, the dweeb whose ears stuck out, so that couldn’t be right. Right? His brain was such a mess trying to figure out what those words meant, so all he managed to say was; “It’s eight-thirty at night.” Wow, smooth.

Baekhyun blinked. “Oh. Um, okay, a hot chocolate, then? Or whatever.” The last part was thrown in uncertainty, like he was expecting rejection.

But was that what he was going to get? Chanyeol wasn’t even sure. A part of him - a big part - wanted nothing more than to say yes, but another part of him remembered his past experiences of dating assholes, which never ended well.

Then again, none of those assholes would have helped a lost child in the mall.

Looking back at Baekhyun’s face, Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why?” Baekhyun asked back, and Chanyeol nodded. The other boy shrugged. “I don't know, maybe because you have the most adorable dorky smile I’ve ever seen, the way you deal with kids is so sweet and does weird things to my heart, and your laugh is basically infectious happiness. You’re also the only person I have ever met that can wear a mall elf costume and still manage to look attractive.” Baekhyun smiled up at Chanyeol a little shyly.

Chanyeol’s brain was trying to process what he’d just heard. Baekhyun, incredibly sexy asshole Byun Baekhyun, though that _he_ was attractive? _And_ he wanted to go on a date with him? It was too much. “Oh,” he said finally, brain too stuck to say anything else.

Baekhyun’s face fell, but a second later he forced a smile back on. “Okay, then, I guess you’re not… I mean you…” he trailed off, mouth opening for a moment before he turned to leave.

“No!” Chanyeol found himself calling, reaching his hand out to grab the shorter boy’s arm. Baekhyun looked up at him in surprise, and Chanyeol quickly let go of him, trying to ignore the heat rising in his ears. “Um, I mean… hot chocolate sounds great!” He grinned down at Baekhyun, and, after a moment, the other boy returned the expression, face lighting up with happiness in such an adorable way that it set off all sorts of butterflies in Chanyeol’s stomach.

“Really? Um, that’s great!” Baekhyun reached his arm out, taking Chanyeol’s hand and lacing their fingers together. Chanyeol felt that it was a bit forward, but he also felt that he really didn’t care - Baekhyun’s hand just felt so perfect in his own. “So, there’s a coffee shop right over there,” Baekhyun gestured with his free hand, “and I’m sure they have hot chocolate. Unless you’re a hot cocoa snob, or something.” Baekhyun shot Chanyeol a wary look, like he was trying to analyze the likelihood of this.

“Would you take back your offer if I was?” Chanyeol asked, sending the shorter boy a teasing grin, and Baekhyun considered for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, I suppose I could learn to deal with it.”

“Oh really?” 

Baekhyun nodded, sighing a little. “Yes, I would have to.” Chanyeol tilted his head questioningly at the other boy, who shrugged again. “What can I say, I guess I just have a major thing for Christmas giraffes.”

Laughing again, Chanyeol squeezed Baekhyun’s hand a bit. “Well, apparently I have a thing for self-superior assholes who refuse to dress for the Christmas season, so I guess we’re both learning things about ourselves.” Chanyeol grinned as Baekhyun broke down into giggles, and this time he didn’t even try to ignore the warm feeling that was filling his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, that happened. Heheh.
> 
> Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed it!


End file.
